Silent Games
by firewaterspaceairearth
Summary: Two people with nothing to lose. A chance to escape. A punishment worse than death. Lavinia's story.


_If you recognise it, it's not mine._

* * *

My name is Lavinia. I guess this is the truth about the Capitol. Oh, they cover it up, behind crazy fashions and luxurious houses, but not all of us have that. My parents died in a train accident when I was eight. I lost everything. My family, my possessions, my home. I lived on the streets for a few years, like many others. That's when I met Ash. He was a few years older than me, had been on the streets since he was six. His family had been evicted, and they died in an illness which spread through the streets soon after. He looked after me, the poor, pampered little girl. The other kids, they were savage. We all were. Within a few months, I thought nothing of slipping up to a stranger and slicing the jewels off their coats. Selling them to the dark, hunched men on the street corners, smelling of cheap cigarettes and alcohol. But then Ash began to change. His eyes grew darker, and he began gathering the scraps of newspaper lying in the streets. I ignored him, thought it was just a hobby, until one night, he came to me.

"Lavinia," he said. "Come with me."

"Where?"

"District Thirteen."

And those two words shattered this life I had cobbled together from pain and stolen jewellery.

"District Thirteen was destroyed in the Dark Days," I hissed back.

"No, it wasn't. It's still there. And I'm going to find it."

"How?"

"I'm going to hide on a train. I'll go as far as I can before getting off. There's a few more links between the districts. And you can come too. We'll make it together."

"Ash, this is crazy. What if District Thirteen doesn't exist, then what will you do? The Capitol would find us, we'd be killed!"

His eyes danced with a strange fire.

"We could escape this," he said, gesturing to the dirty alleyways and rotting huts. "We could escape it all. And I'm going to."

He began to walk away, towards the train station. I waited a few minutes, before stumbling after him.

"Fine. I'm in."

* * *

The journey was terrifying and dangerous. We almost got caught several times, ducking inside empty boxes and behind heavy barrels. There is not a doubt that without each other, we would have died several times apiece. Once, I lost my footing as we scrambled over the roof of a train. I dangled over the edge, watching the ground rush and churn beneath me, and Ash grabbed my hand, dragging me up. Later, a guard almost caught us so I darted from my hiding place and made a run off the train. While he chased me, Ash clambered out of a window. Before the guard could catch us, the train began to move again. But the Capitol knew there were rebels, now. We were on foot from District Nine. It took us months. Months of hiding, of whispered conversations, a snatched map which was blowing around. We caught moments of sleep, always moving, always alert. Eventually, we reached the outskirts of District Twelve. We found a hollow in the ground, covered ourselves in leaves, and slept.

When I woke up, the sun was shining. Ash was gone. I crawled out of the hole and saw him cooking a rabbit over a small fire.

"Where did you get that?" I asked him.

"Found it. It was strung up in a trap."

"So other people come here?" I asked, fear clenching in my stomach.

"I guess so," he said thoughtfully. Then he grinned.

"Of course, we'll be long gone by then. We're nearly there, Lavinia. I just know it."

I laughed too, and accepted the chunk of meat. We were happy, relaxed, certain of our success. We should have run then, found another hiding place as quickly as possible. Maybe we could have made it.

We were in a clearing when they found us. It was beautiful, sun shining in a perfect circle. Then we heard it. The fierce roar of the Capitol's hovercraft. Ash turned to me, a flash of panic crossing his face.

"Lavinia, run!" he said. I barely heard him. Out of the corner of my eye, I'd spotted a movement. I glanced over. Two people with dark hair. The boy had a rabbit tied to his belt. These must be who had set the trap Ash found this morning. I saw the boy pull the girl behind a leafy bush.

"Run! Now! Lavinia!"

Ash's voice was panicked, but then it was silenced with a rush of air. A metal spear slammed into his chest. Ash collapsed to the ground, blood trickling from his lips.

_"Ash!"_ I screamed, as a thick net dropped over me. I struggled, trying to reach Ash's body, even as I was pulled into the air.

"Ash..."

I could still see the girl's clear grey eyes, terrified and staring through the leaves. And then the hovercraft slid shut. Someone stabbed a needle into my arm. Everything faded to black.

* * *

I woke up in a clean white room. My hair had been cropped close to my head and I was wearing a thin gown. I was lying on a cold table, straps holding my wrists and ankles down. The memories of what happened hit me. The grey-eyed girl and her friend. I couldn't help wondering what had happened to them. Had the Capitol taken them as well? And Ash. A small part of me frantically wanted to believe he was alive. But I knew he was dead. The Capitol wouldn't keep him, he was too dangerous. Death seemed like the worst thing imaginable when I was a child. My parents died. I had seen plenty of people die on the streets as I grew up. And now Ash. But then I opened my mouth to shout, to ask where I was. A sharp pain sliced through my jaw, and when it subsided, I realised I was screaming.

Silently.


End file.
